A 29-year-old man suffered serious injuries and was transported to Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland after he rolled over his 2000 Chevrolet Silverado on Thursday morning.
Emergency crews were called out to Colo. 392 about one-half mile west of Weld County Road 13 at about 9:56 a.m. as the pickup truck driven by Jacob Chacko of Fort Collins rolled off the road and landed on its side about 300 feet from the highway.
According to Sgt. Mike Baker, public information officer for the Colorado State Patrol, Chacko was traveling eastbound when the Silverado went off the right side of the road.
"The driver apparently was distracted by his cell phone," Baker said. "He was not on it, but he was reaching for it and ran off the side of the road and rolled. He was cited with careless driving."
Baker said Chacko was wearing his seat belt. Weld County Paramedics transported him to MCR. Baker said Chacko's injuries were not life threatening.
Windsor Severance Fire Rescue cut out the front windshield and used the "Jaws of Life" to remove Chacko from the vehicle. They also used three rescue jacks to keep the Silverado from tipping over.
Windsor Severance Fire Rescue chief of operations Mike Blackwill, who is also a paramedic, said Chacko had a slight head injury and complained of some neck pain.
"He was moving all of his extremities so he appeared alert and oriented so that's always a good sign," Blackwill said. "We did have a bystander that was an EMT who stopped and checked on him. He was here when we got here."
Blackwill said the crew at Windsor Severance Fire Rescue did a nice job in removing Chacko and stabilizing the vehicle.
"I was real impressed with the guys today," Blackwill said. "They brought the (rescue jacks) out and got that vehicle stabilized pretty darn quick. It's dangerous for everybody."
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